Suction cleaner



Feb. $1942. R, s. BOYLE ETAL SUCTION CLEANER Filed D90. 23, 1938Sheets-Sheet 1' Robert .5. flo yle a I tfi'arlea' 11. Taylor 5, MMATTORNEY Feb. 3, 1942. v R. s. BOYLE Em. 2,271,556

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Dec. 25, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RobertJZBoyleli ilzai-lea H; T a /101 f yi ATTORNEY Feb. 3, 1942. R, s. BoYL ErAL sucnou CLEANER Filed Dec. 2:. 1938 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 R ob erf J.Boyle (3 I 6' arles Ta ylor' ATTORNEY Patentedomen STAT-ES- PATENTOFFICE v 2,57 ,556 l SUCTION cums Robert .s'. Boyle, Akron, out, andCharles H.

' Taylor, Springfield, Mass.

Hoover Company, Nort poration Ohio assignors to The Canton, Ohio, a cor-Application December 2:, 1938, Serial No. 241,430

15 Claims. gcl. 15-l83) vention comprises a rotary agitator fora'suction cleaner which includes helically extending brush elementswhich are subjected to wear in use, means being provided by which thebrush elementscan' be adjusted radially to compensate for decreaseinbristle length after prolonged use has made such adjustment necessary.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedsuction cleaner. It is another object of the invention to provide a newand improved rotary agitator for a. suction clean- A still furtherobject of the invention is to provide a rotary agitator for asuction-cleaner which includes a helical brush which is radiallyadjustable. tion is to provide new and improved means by which ahelically extending brush in a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner canbe radially adjusted to compensate fordecrease in bristle lengthoccasioned by wear. A still further object of the invention is toprovide a helically $34, Figure 11 isasection through the brushextending brush element in a rotary agitator which includes a rigid backand flexible bristle the first embodiment of the present invention andembodying helically extending bristle elements;

A still further object of the invenelements, there being cooperatingseats upon the element longitudinally within the brush seat.

These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading thefollowing specification and claims and upon considering in connectiontherewith the attached drawings to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawings in which preferred embodiments of thepresentinvention are disclosed and in which the same reference characterrefers to the same part throughout: 7 Figure 1 is a side elevation of asuction cleanerembodying the present invention, a section being a. shownthrough the forward part of the machine to illustrate the rotaryagitator positioned within l the nomle;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the suction cleaner rotary. agitator inaccordance with Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken along thehelical brush element:

Figure 4 is a tranversesection through the agitator upon'the line 4-4 ofFigure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged view in perspective of the agitator with aportion of the body thereof broken away to illustrate the adjustablebrush positioned therein; v

Figure 6 is an illustration of the helical brush positioned by theadjusting means in the "new brush" position;

Figure 7 is a view similar to brush positioned in the old brushposition;

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate the manually adjustable bar positioned in thebottom of the brush seat by which the user can adjust the brushposition:

Figure 10 is a view similar toFigure 6 and shows a second preferred typeoi adjustment in which the brush is moved longitudinally in its seat toaccomplish the adjustment; 1 d its seat upon the line il-ll of Figure10; I

Figure 12 is a section upon the line l2-I2 of Figure 10;

Figure 13 is a view similar to Figures 6 and 10 and illustrates a thirdpreferred form of the brush adjustment; g

Figure 14 is a view in perspective of the'adjustment bar which ismanually movable in the brush seat to accomplish the adjustment;

vFigure 15 is a section upon the line lB-i! of Figure 13; and

Figure 16 is a' fragmentary view of the indicating means for theadjuster looking in the direction indicated by the arrows lI-il ofFigure '13.

In the modern suction cleaner foreign mate- 4 rial is dislodged from asurface covering undergoing cleaning by. a rotary agitator and isremoved by the stream of air drawn through the machine by thesuction-creating means thereof.

The preferred form of rotary agitator embodies both rigid heatingelements and flexible brush elements. The former elements positivelyvibrate the surface covering and effectively dislodge therefrom theembedded foreign material while the latter elements effect apile-straightening,

function. According to the present invention 7 helically arrangedremovable brush elements are embodied in the rotary agitator and areadjustable relative to the agitator body to compensate Figure 6 with thea ure 1 in particular, a modern suction cleaner is' Axially extendingbrush eleillustrated in which a main casing l includes a nozzle 2, a fanchamber 3 having an eye 4, an interconnecting air passageway 5, and anexhaustoutlet 6. Upon the casing is a motor casing I within which ispositioned an unshown driving motor, the shaft 8 of which extendsdownwardly through the fan chamber 3-where it carries a suction creatingfan 9 effective in cleaner operation to draw air into the nozzle 2between the surface-contacting lips I0 and II, rearwardly through theair passageway 5, and through the eye l into the fan chamber 3. From thefan chamber 3 the air is exhausted through the outlet 6 into the filterbag l2 which is removably attached to the outlet 6 by manually operablemeans l3. This air stream passing through the cleaner removes anyforeign material from a surface covering under-cleaning which has beendislodged by the rotating agitator positioned in the nozzle andindicated generally by the reference character l5. This agitator isrotated by means of the power-transmitting belt 16 which connects to thepulley i'i positioned at the lower end of the motor shafts.

The cleaner is movably supported upon an underlying surface by frontwheels, indicated by the reference character IB, and by rear wheels,indicated by the reference character it, and, also in the manner of theusual cleaner, 8. pivoted handle 20 is provided by which the operatormay exert the propelling force necessary to operate the machine. Thecleaner in its general arrangement is common and well known tiallymidway of its length with a circumferential groove which functions as apulley to seat the power-transmitting belt by which the agitator isdriven. Agitator body 26 is provided with helically extending recessedbrush seats 28 which may be integrally formed or formed of separateelements secured fixedly in place therein as by welding. Within eachbrush seat at is removably positioned a helical brush element 21hereinafter more fully disclosed. Fixedly secured upon the surface ofagitator body 25 and extending helically are rigid beater elements 28which cooperate with the brush elements 21, in the operation of theagitator, to dislodge and clean the surface covering undergoingcleaning.

Cylindrical agitator body 24 is rotatably supand extends helically,preferably in alignmentwith a rigid beating element 28 upon the oppositeside of the pulley '25, as illustrated in Figure 2. The side walls ofthe brush seat, in any given transverse plane of the agitator body, asillustrated in Figure 4, extend parallel to a radial line through thebrush seat center in that plane, and the bottom wall of the seat extendsperpendicular thereto in any given plane. The brush element 21 comprisesa rigid back 3| which is shaped exactly as the brush seat 26 but isslightly narrower than that seat thereby providing a small clearance.The back 3i is fabricated of an outer relatively large U-shaped channelmember 32, the bottom of which is closed by an inner relatively smallU-shaped channel member 33. The flexible brush bristles 34, 34 etc. aresecured to member 33 and extend upwardly and through the top of thelarge U- channel member 32.

The opposite ends of the brush back 3! are provided on their undersideswith series of steps or seats 35, 35 which slope in the same directionat th opposite ends of the'back. The steps or seats at the two ends areequi-spaced and identical in arrangement. As a matter of fact there aretwo series of steps at each end of the brush back, one series on eachside wall of the U-channel members,-but. as the two series of steps ateach end of the back function together, they may be considered as asingle series, and each pair of steps at the same height and at the sameend of the brush back and may be considered as a single step or seat.

The brush 21 is removably held in its seat 28 by manually removablescrews 40, 40 which extend downwardly through the back 3| into threadedrelationship with the bottom wall of the seat which is reinforced atthat point to receive the screw. The screws pass through the is providedat its opposite ends with pairs of shoulders 31, 31 which are spaced andpositioned so as to cooperate with and support the brush Zack 3| bycontacting seats thereon of the same e ght.

The adjusting bar 36 is adapted to be shifted along the brush back andaccordingly is provided ported at each of its ends upon a shaft 29 by anend plate 30 which seats a ball bearing 22. A thread guard 23 carried bythe shaft 29 adjacent each end plate 30 overlies -that.member to proatone end with a plurality of screw holes 4| which, while interconnected,are so spaced that with the screw ll! positioned in one, it cannotaccidentally pass to an adjacent hole. Centers of the screw holes arespaced apart by a distance equal to the spacing of adjacent seats on thebrush back, the relationship being such that the adjusting bar can bemoved longitudinally of the brush back and retained in position by thescrew 40 extending through the screw holes ll. Longitudinal movement'ofthe adjusting bar 38 causes tact and support the shoulders 35 which areuppermost on the brush back 3|. This permits the brush to have itsinnermost radial position relative to the agitator As the brush bristlesbecome worn the adjusting bar will, from time to time be adjusted so asto cooperate with shoulders or seats 35 which are lower upon the brushback 3 I. This will result in the brush back being Y held at a greaterradial extension to compensate tact with the shoulders" upon the brushback means of a shifting force applied to the adjust- .ing lever I toshift the adjuster bar 50 to bring the supporting shoulders 31 thereofinto conwhich are lower-thereon for the purpose of holding the back to agreater radial extension. with the brush securely secured in position bythe screws l0, 40 the adjuster bar 50 is clamped in tend to a radialdistance which is substantially equal to that of the rigid beater bars28, 28.

Referring now to Figures to 12, inclusive, of the drawings, the secondpreferred embodiment of the-invention is illustrated. In this embodimentthe general appearance of the agitator and the arrangement of the brushelements relative to the beater elements is identical to that of thefirst embodiment as illustrated in Figure 2, and the difference in theembodiments lies inthe 1 means .by which the radial adjustment of thebrushes is obtained. According to this second embodiment of theinvention, when it is desired to adjust radially the brush element tocompensate for bristle wear the retaining screws 40, are loosenedsumciently topermit the brushv 21 to be shifted longitudinally, or moreaccurately helically, in the brush seat 26 so that lower shoulders 35upon the brush back may engage the adjuster bar shoulders 31 which, inthis embodiment, are fixedly positioned in the bottom of the brush seat.Each screw to extends in threaded relationship into a'nut which isslidingly carried in a guideway 46 on the underside of the bottom wallof the brush seat to permit the screw to be shifted with the brush. Thesecond embodiment is characterized by the advantage that radialadjustment can be obtained without removing the brush from the agitator.

Referring now to Figures 13 to 16, inclusive, the third preferredembodiment of the invention is illustrated. As in the case of the secondembodiment, it is not necessary to remove the brush in order to obtainradial adjustment. The removable helically extending brush 21 with itsrigid back 3| is again retained within the helicallyextending brush seat26 by screws 40, ll! which extend into reinforced portions of the'bottomof brushseat. The brush back is again formed with a series of slopingseats 35, 35 characteristic of the first two embodiments. The adjusterbar, in the present embodiment, is indicated by the reference characterI50 and is formed with an upwardly extending lever 5| formed as apointer at its end which extends upwardly adjacent the side of the brushseat near the iongitudinal midpointv thereof, as illustrated in Figure15, and ends .adjacent a series of spaced numerals positioned upon theagitator surface, as

illustrated in Figure 16. Adjuster bar 50 is pro-- vided at its endswith the supporting shoulders 31, 81 which cooperate, as in the twoprevious embodiments with the brush back seats 35. In

. .this instance, however, the .bar is formed with position relative tothe back and to the seat and it is impossible for a change in adjustmentto takeplace. As distinguished from embodiment 2 in which the brush wasitself shifted longitudinall'y in order to accomplish radial adjustment,in the present embodiment it is the adjuster bar which is shiftedlongitudinally.

We claim:

1. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a part comprising a bodyincluding a helically extending brush seat, a part comprising ahelically extending brush element in said seat, cooperating means tovary the radial extension of said brush element and comprising anangularly inclined support on one ofsaid parts and a cooperating supporton the other part, sai supports being relatively adjustablelongitudinally of said body and the position of said brush element insaid seat being determined by the relationship of said supports, andmeans to secure said brush in said seat and the relative positions ofsaid supports.

2. In a-rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a part comprising a bodyincluding a helically extending brush seat, a part comprising ahelically extending brush element in said seat, cooperating means tovary the radialextension of said brush to contact said seats, and meansto secure said cooperating means in listed position and said element insaid seat.

3. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a

. part comprising a body including a helically ex adjustably positionedin said seat and adapted to extended slots 52 through-which 'the screwsto extend, the relationship being such that with the contact selectivelysaid supporting seats to vary 1 l.

the position of said element in said seat.

4. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, 9. part comprising a bodyincluding a helically extending brush seat, a part comprising ahelically extending brush element removably positioned in said seat,spaced supporting seats at various heights on said element, supportingmeans adjustably positioned in said seat'and adapted to contactselectively said supporting seats to vary the position of said elementin said seat, andmeans removably securing said element in said seat andsaid adjustable support in a fixed position.

prising a body rotatable about its major axis andincluding an elongatedbrush seat having a bottom wall, a brush element including a back andbristles positioned in said seat, cooperating rela--- tively movablesupporting means on said back and in said seat, the said means in saidseat being carried by and longitudinally shiftable along'said. bottomwall, the said cooperating supporting means being sov constructed andarranged that I said brush is supported at diiierent radial posi-.

screws loosened suiiiciently' it is possible, by "-5 tions relative tosaid major axis'inthe diflerent 5. A rotary agitator for a suctioncleaner comlongitudinal positions of said means in said seat,- andmanually operable means forcing said back into said seat and securingsaid cooperating means in a selected position.

6. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a body, anelongated helically extending agitating element seat in said body, fixedmeans to support an agitating element in said seat, an elongatedagitating element in said seat provided with longitudinally spacedsupports at varying heights thereon adapted to cooperate selectivelywith the support means of said seat to position said element at aplurality of radial positions relative to said body, and adjustablemeans to retain said agitating element in adjusted position in saidbody.

'7. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a body, anelongated helically extending agitating element seat in said body, anelongated agitating element longitudinally and radially adjustable insaid body, fixed means to support said agitating element in said seat,and support means at various heights on said agitating element adaptedto cooperate selectively with said fixed means to adjust said agitatingelement radially as it is manually adjusted longitudinally, and means toretain said agitating element in adjusted position.

8. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a body, an elongatedlongitudinally extending helical seat fixedly positioned in said body,an

elongated helical agitating element positioned in said seat, helicallyarranged cooperating supporting means on said body and said agitatingelement to adjust said agitating element radially in said body, one ofsaid means being longitudinally movable relative to said seat, andmanually adjustable means to secure said agitating element in adjustedposition.

9. In a rotary agitator for suction cleaners, a rotatable body formedwith a helically extending brush seat, a helically extending brushincluding a rigid helically extending rigid back posiof varying heightslongitudinally of said helically extending seat, said supporting meansbeing adapted to cooperate selectively upon being j shiftedlongitudinally relative to one another.

tioned in and extended from-said seat, brush adjusting means slidable insaid seat to adjust the radial position of said brush, and manuallyoperable means extended to the surface of said body adjacent said brushseat, operable from the exterior of said body, and shiftabielongitudinally of said body to position said brush-adjusting means.

12. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a cylindrical bodyincluding an elongated helically extending brushseat, an elongatedhelical brush including a rigid back and bristles positioned in saidseat, manually releasable means op 'erable' from the exterior of saidbody securing means in said seat to adjust said brush radially,

and manually operable-means positioned adjacent said brush seat at thesurface of said body and shiftable longitudinally relative thereto toposition said brush adjusting means.

13. A suction cleaner rotary agitator having a major axis of rotationand including an elongated brush seat, a brush-adjusting element in saidseat shiftable longitudinally of said agitator including portionsadapted to contact a brush positioned in said seat, and manuallyoperable positioning means connected to said brush-adjusting element andextended to the peripheral surface of said agitator and adapted totransmit ashifting force to said element.

14. In a suction cleaner rotary agitator, a. body having an agitatingelement seat, an agitating element positioned in said seat and extendedradially beyond said body, a plurality of means tioned in said seat andof slightly lesser width than said seat, and brush tufts extended fromsaid rigid back beyond said body. and means to adjust said elementradially in said seat and relative to the axis of rotation of said bodyincluding means dispiaceabie longitudinally rela-. tive to said back andpositioned between said back and said seat. 7

10. In a rotary agitator for suction cleaners, a rotatable body formedwith a helically extending brush seat, a helically extending brushinranged longitudinally relative to said back and fixed to said bodyadapted to contact said element to determine the radial position thereofrelative to the axis of agitator rotation, said element being shiftablelengthwise of said seat to contact selectively certain of said fixedmeans,

and means cooperating with said fixed means to secure said element insaid seat.

15. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a body, anelongated agitating element seat on said body, an elongated agitatingelement in said seat and movable longitudinally thereof, cooperatingsupporting means on said element and said seat to position said elementat various radial positions relative to the axis of rotation of saidbody in the various longitudinal positions of said element in said seat,and manually operable means to position fixedly said element and adaptedto release said element to enable it to be adjusted to a new position.

, ROBERT S. BOYLE. CHARLES H. TAYLOR.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,271,556. February 5, 19m.

ROBERT S. BOYLE, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5,sec-- ond colmnh, line 56, for adjustable seats" read -spaced seats--;and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correctiontherein that the same may conform to the record of the case in thePatent Office.

Signed and sealed this Ltth day of May, A. D. 19L;5.

. Henry Van Arsdale,

(Seal) v Acting cormnissioner of Patents.

